Toy monorail train system

ABSTRACT

D R A W I N G A TOY TRAIN SYSTEM IS DESCRIBED WITH A MONORAIL TRACK. A TRAIN ADAPTED TO MOVE ON THIS TRACK IS PROVIDED WITH LATERAL SUPPORTING AND VERTICAL SUPPORTING WHEELS WHICH RIDE RESPECTIVELY ON SIDE AND UPPER SURFACES OF THE TRACK. THE WHEELS ARE MOUNTED IN A TRACK RECEIVING CHANNEL OF THE TRAIN BODY AND ARE BOTH LONGITUDINALLY AND LATERALLY SPACED TO ENGAGE THE MONORAIL IN A TRACK HUGGING MANNER. IN ONE EMBODIMENT STANCHIONS ARE ATTACHED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF SELECTED PORTIONS OF THE MONORAIL TRACK TO OBTAIN TRACK ELEVATIONS. HIGH TRAIN SPEEDS MAY BE SUSTAINED ALONG THE ELEVATED PORTIONS OF THE TRACK WITHOUT TRAIN DERAILMENT.

P. M. TOMARO TOY MONORAIL TRAIN SYSTEM March 16, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Jan. 29, 1970 O R A M O 8 RT Y T NK 2R E C m m T WT WA A P March16, 1971 P M, TOMARO 3,570,177

TOY MONORAIL TRAIN SYSTEM Filed Jan. 29, 1970 s Sheets-Sheet z INVENTORPATRICK M. TOMARO BY W, 5

PoJumJJJL & ATTORN YS March 16, 1971 R M TOMARO 3,570,177

TOY MONORAIL TRAIN SYSTEM Filed Jan. 29, 1970 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG? -INVENTOR PATRICK M. TOMARO BY W,B PM 61 ATTORN Y8 United States Patent O3,570,177 TOY MONORAIL TRAIN SYSTEM Patrick M. Tomaro, Maplewood, N.J.,assignor to Remco Industries, Inc., Harrison, NJ. Filed Jan. 29, 1970,Ser. No. 6,880 Int. Cl. A63h 18/12 US. Cl. 46-243 7 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A toy train system is described with a monorail track.

A train adapted to move on this track is provided with lateralsupporting and vertical supporting wheels which ride respectively onside and upper surfaces of the track. The wheels are mounted in a trackreceiving channel of the train body and are both longitudinally andlaterally spaced to engage the monorail in a track hugging manner. Inone embodiment stanchions are attached to the underside of selectedportions of the monorail track to obtain track elevations. High trainspeeds may be sustained along the elevated portions of the track withouttrain derailment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a toy trainsystem. More specifically, this invention relatesto a toy train systemwith a monorail and a train structure shaped to envelop the monorailtrack for high speed stable movement over the monorail.

In a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention a high speedtoy train system is provided with a track structure generally in theform of a continuous monorail made of nonconductive material withconductive strips imbedded therein for electrical power transmission tothe train. A train adapted to move on the monorail has wheels which rideon both upper and side surfaces of the track. The wheels are mounted ina track receiving channel of the train body and are spacedlongitudinally along the track as well as laterally on both monorailtrack sides so that the train may embrace the monorail for stable trainmotion. Electrical power take off wipers are located in the trackreceiving channel of the train and contact the conductive strips whichare preferably mounted in the top surface of the monorail. Upper tracksurface contacting vertical support wheels are also located in thechannel of the train body with one of the latter wheels being driven byan electric motor whose driving power is obtained from the conductivestrips. In a preferred embodiment the vertical support wheels ridebetween the imbedded conductive strips.

The track enveloping construction of the train body imparts to the toytrain system excellent stability with little likelihood of toppling athigh operating speeds. Portions of the monorail may be elevated withstanchions mounted to the underside of the track. When a track iselevated, upwardly and downwardly slanted ramps are formed; yet, trainstability is maintained despite the high speed of a train 'as it travelsalong a downwardly slanted ramp.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These advantages of the invention and othersmay be understood from the following description of a preferredembodiment in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a continuous monorail track system inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a train locomotive whileoperatively mounted on a monorail track in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective partially broken view of ends ice of monorailtrack segments utilized with the toy train system in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a broken rear end view of a locomotive of a toy train andmonorail track taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view parallel along the monorail track with atrain locomotive thereon taken along the line 55 in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are horizontal sectional views of a train locomotive suchas take-n along a line 6-6 in FIG. 5 illustrating the position of thetrain wheels while on a straight and curved track segment respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to FIG. 1 a toytrain system 10 is shown formed of a continuous monorail track 12.Monorail track 12 is formed of nonconductive material and is arranged ina figure 8 pattern with a portion 14 thereof elevated with stanchions16. Track 12 is formed of a plurality of mating and interlockingmonorail segments such as 18 some of which are curved. A train 20 ismounted on track 12. Train 20 is formed of a locomotive 22 which pullscars 24. The track system depicted in FIG. 1 is arranged in a figure 8pattern though it may be appreciated that other configurations may beused as desired.

Stanchions 16 are differently sized so as to provide gradually inclinedtrack portions 26. Track 12 is further provided with electricallyconductive strips 28-28 (See FIG. 2) embedded in the top nonconductingsurface of the track to supply electrical power to a driving motorlocated within train 22. Electrical power for this purpose is fed toconductive strips 28-28 from a conventional transformer and rheostatcontrol 30 with electrical leads 32.

The construction of a track segment 18 may be more clearly appreciatedfrom the views in FIGS. 2 and 3. Therein, track segments 18 are shownwith conductive strips vertically embedded in the track upper surface 34and producing thereabove sufiiciently to enable electrical powerpick-off wipers located in the locomotive 22 to make electrical contacttherewith. As can be seen in FIG. 2 conductive strips 28-28 terminate inmale and female ends whereby mating engagement may be made with othertrack segments 18 to form a continuous electrified track 12.

Track segments such as 18 have channel shaped bodies with smoothoutwardly facing side surfaces 36-36. Preferably these side surfacesextend in a downwardly and outwardly lateral direction so as to form atrapezoidal crossesction with the bottom of surfaces 36-36 wider spacedfrom one another than their tops. The ends, 38 of track segments 18 areclosed to form a rigid track segment whose side surfaces 36-36 are freefrom undulations and present a smooth high speed riding platform fortrain wheels. When in use, track segments 18 are placed with their openchannels facing downwardly. The vertical track elevating supports 16 maythen be placed in the track channels without interference with a trainmoving along the track. The top portions of vertical track supports 16are, therefore, preferably so shaped as to wedge between the sides oftrack segments 18. A protrusion 39 and a recess 41 are each located inend surfaces 38 of a track segment 18 and mate in complementary fashionwith like protrusions and recesses of other track segments 18. Theprotrusion 39 and recess 41 are so spaced from the male and female endsof conductive strips 28-28 that a tight frictional lock between adjacenttrack segments is obtained when male and female ends of conductivestrips 28-28 are connected to one another.

Train 20 is so shaped that each of its components such as locomotive 22and cars 24 envelop track 12. This construction is made possible byproviding each train component with a track receiving channel 40. (SeeFIG. 4.)

This channel extends from the front towards the rear and is providedwith side surface riding wheels 42 and vertical support wheels such as44.

Side riding or lateral support wheels 42 are arranged in front and rearlocated pairs (See FIG. 5.) and the wheels in each pair are so laterallyspaced to receive a track segment 18 between them and provide siderolling contact between locomotive 2'2 and track 12. As illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5 lateral support wheels 42 rotate about vertical axes andare preferably in the form of conical roller elements whose conicalshape is selected to provide a line contact with side surfaces 36-36 oftrack 12.

As may be observed in FIG. 5 vertical support of locomotive 22 and othertrain components is provided with wheels 44 rotating about horizontalaxes. A front located vertical support wheel 44 contacts upper surface34 of track 12 at a location generally between the pair of front locatedlateral support wheels 42. The other vertical support wheel contactsupper surface 34 of track 12 generally between the rear located lateralsupport wheels 42. Rear located vertical support wheel 44 is driven byan electric motor 46 through suitable gears 48 to rapidly advancelocomotive 22 along continuous track 12'. As may be observed in FIG. 4both the driwing vertical support wheel 44 and the front locatedvertical support wheel 44 contact upper surface 34 of track 12 betweenthe parallel spaced conductor strips 28-28 Sliding contacts such as50-50' are mounted in track receiving channel 40 to contact conductivestrips 28-28 at upper portions thereof for locomotive power.

The location of vertical support wheels 44 is so selected as to reducetheir lateral motion to a minimum when the train engages curved tracksegments. Thus, as clearly illustrated in the view of FIG. 5, each ofthe vertical support wheels 44 is located so as to contact upper tracksurface 34 in an area which falls generally midway of a line drawnbetween the contacts of lateral support wheels 42 with side surfaces3646'. In this manner, lateral excursions of vertical support wheels44-44 are reduced so that these vertical support wheels may ride betweenconductive strips 28-28 without interference therewith.

FIG. 7 illustrates the lateral displacement of portions of locomotive 22as it engages a curved track segment 18'. As may be observed, portions52-52 of the longitudinal slot protruding in front of front locatedlateral support wheels 42' and behind the rear located lateral supportwheels 42 tend to approach the curved track. However, portions 52-52 ofthe locomotive body are laterally recessed so as to accommodate thecurved track segments without interference. Portions 54 of channel 40between lateral support wheels 4242' are so sized as to accommodatetrack curvatures.

On a curved track, vertical support wheels 44 operate in tangentialdirection relative to the track. The lateral support wheels 42, however,maintain locomotive 22 on the track regardless of this tangential effectand the speed of travel.

Having thus describe-d the elements employed in the high speed stabletrain system in accordance with the invention its advantages may beespecially appreciated when high speed operating conditions areencountered. When the high speed train has rounded the curve 14 asindicated in FIG. 1 and commences to move along a downwardly inclinedramp 26 the construction employed with the train system of thisinvention maintains the train on the track. As the train quickly roundsthe bottom located curve it ramps upwardly without toppling over.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy train system capable of operating at high speed over elevatedtrack without unbalance comprising a continuous track having smoothlateral support surfaces and carrying a pair of parallel spacedlongitudinally aligned conductors for transmitting electri- 4 cal powerto a train located on the track, said track being provided with openchannel segments, with the track operatively mounted with the open endsof the channel segments facing downwardly;

track supporting stanchions selectively sized and located to engage thetrack and elevate selected track portions to form a continuous trackwith vertically slanted ramps, said stanchions being provided withupwardly extending track channel engaging members which supportivelyengage the open tr-ack channels to elevate the track,

a train having a body selectively shaped to embrace the track to enablethe train to travel at high speed along the downwardly slanted trackramp without toppling off, said train body being provided with a bottomlocated track receiving open ended channel commencing at the front ofthe train and running longitudinally of the train towards the rear ofthe train, said train body channel being provided with laterallyopposing front and rear locations for low friction lateral track contactby the train, said train body channel further being provided withvertical support wheels mounted for rolling over the upper surface ofthe track and respectively operatively located generally betweenopposing lateral support wheels for reduced lateral movements thereof asthe train engages curved portions of the continuous track, and meanselectrically coupled to the conductors for driving a vertical supportwheel into rotation to advance the train rapidly along the continuoustrack.

2. A toy train system capable of operating at high speed over elevatedtrack without unbalance comprising,

a continuous track having smooth lateral support surfaces and carrying apair of parallel spaced longitudinally aligned conductors fortransmitting electrical power to a train located on the track, saidtrack being provided with open channel segments, with the track surfacemounted with the open ends of the channel segments facing downwardly,track supporting stanchions selectively sized and located to engage thetrack and elevate selected track portions to form a continuous trackwith vertically slanted ramps, said stanchions being provided withupwardly extending track channel engaging wedging members sized tofrictionally grip the open track channels for elevation of the track,

a train having a body selectively shaped to embrace the track to enablethe train to travel at high speed along the downwardly slanted trackramp Without toppling olf, said train body being provided with a bottomlocated track receiving open ended channel commencing at the front ofthe train and running longitudinally of the train towards the rear ofthe train, said train body channel being provided with laterallyopposing front and rear locations for low friction lateral track contactby the train, said train body channel further being provided withvertical support wheels mounted for rolling over the upper surface ofthe track and respectively operatively located generally betweenopposing lateral support wheels for reduced lateral movements thereof asthe train engages curved portions of the continuous track, and meanselectrically coupled to the conductors for driving a vertical supportwheel into rotation to advance the train rapidly along the continuoustrack. 3. The stable high speed elevated toy train system as claimed inclaim 2 wherein said conductors are located on an upper surface of thetrack and with the vertical support wheels located to contact the trackupper surface generally between the parallel longitudinal conductors.

4. The stable high speed elevated toy train system as claimed in claim 3wherein the side track surfaces are inclined in lateral outwardlydirections and wherein said lateral support wheels are in the form ofconical elements having a rolling surface forming a vertical contactline with the track lateral surfaces.

5. The stable high speed elevated toy train system as claimed in claim 4wherein the train body channel is selectively sized with portionsthereof between front and rear lateral support wheels being laterallyspaced to accommodate track lateral displacements at curved segmentsthereof, and with train body portions protruding forwardly andrearwardly of the front and rear lateral support wheels being laterallyrecessed to freely receive Without contact laterally extending portionsof curved track segments.

6. A toy train system comprising a high speed monorail track composed ofinterlocking track sections arrangeable in a closed loop, saidinterlocking track sections being formed of longitudinal generallyU-shaped substantially rigid nonconductive channels having an uppersurface for supporting longitudinally extending conductive parallellaterally spaced strips of tracks partially embedded in the uppersurface of the channel and terminating at longitudinal ends of channelsfor matingly receiving other conducting track strips of other channelsto form said closed loop with electrically interconnected track strips,said channels being oriented with the open end of the U facingdownwardly and the sides of the U channels extending downwardly toprovide rigid lateral support for a high speed train moving along thetrack and a train for moving along the track, said train having a bodyprovided with a bottom located channel shaped to envelop the track, saidbody channel being provided with lateral train retaining wheels mountedfor rolling over the track sides, with said lateral train retainingwheels being arranged in front and rear located pairs of wheels, withwheels in each pair straddling the track to provide rolling contacttherewith on opposite lateral track sides, said train body further beingprovided with a driving wheel operatively engaging the upper surface ofthe track, said driving wheel being located in the train body channel toprovide contact with the upper track surface in an area which isgenerally in alignment with a contact line defined between one pair ofopposing lateral train retaining wheels, a second vertical trainsupporting wheel mounted to the train body to contact the track uppersurface at an area generally in align ment with a contact line definedbetween the other pair of opposing lateral train retaining wheels, and

means electrically contacting said conductive track strips for actuatingsaid driving wheel to propel the train along the monorail track at highspeeds.

7. The toy train system as defined in claim 6 and further including,

track elevating stanchions sized to engage the open U-shaped downwardlyfacing channels to selectively elevate the track.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,788,749 4/1957 Hinsken et al.104-118 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,224,280 2/ 1960 France 46-243 1,058,415 5/1959Germany 46243 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner R. F. CUTTING,Assistant Examiner

